GULL LAKE 2008

Gull Lake is one of the coolest looking lakes in southern Michigan with it's gigantic homes dotting the shoreline and it's deep crystal clear waters. But this beauty also draws lots of boat traffic and coupled with a big tournament fishing the day before, the SCMBC event on Gull Lake last July figured to be a tough one. It was and when I brought 3 fish to the scales at just under 5 pounds, it was enough to earn me my first win of the season and be the fifth winner in five events for the club. Here's how it broke down:

I pre-fished but never got on anything real consistent. I try to find the biggest flat on any new lake and start there when breaking down water. I focused on the 15-20 foot range and targeted isolated weed clumps but never caught them good there. I moved shallower, probably 8-12 foot and caught them a little easier so that's where I focused my attention.

Tournament day started slow and after a few small fish with fast moving baits, I scaled down with a drop shot rig and started fishing the isolated weed clumps. My big flat didn't procuce a keeper and around noon I went to the eastern shore to fish the same pattern. About 90 minutes later I caught 3 keepers including a two pounder which wound up being big fish for the tourney and just that quickly, my good fish quit biting. I never did catch another keeper but my three fish were enough to earn me my third club win. The biggest key for me was to abort the power fishing approach so early and concentrate on the drop-shot quicker than I normally would. I usually don't like to leave a familiar area, especially to fish new water during a tournament but I felt that was the best way to catch them and it paid off.

Gear notes: 6'6" BPS Extreme spinning rod (medium) paired with a Shimano Symetre. I used 8 pound BPS flourocarbon and a 4.5" Zoom finesse worm in green pumpkin. The worm was fished drop-shot style with a #1 Gamakatsu drop-shot hook and 1/4 oz round weight.

BOARD MEETING

Just got back from the clubs' board meeting tonight and there are some pretty interesting changes that might be coming. I've mentioned these before but I think there is a good possibility that a few will be voted in at Aprils meeting. I'm hoping we can get the entry fees back down to $25 and just pay out a little less money. Reducing the number of plaques given out at each event will also help to keep costs down and we are recommending that these be capped at 3 per event.
The number of members who make the "Classic" this year was also talked about and there were good arguments on keeping it the same as well as lowering the invites so we'll hash that out at the meeting as well.

As for the first tournament of the year, Michigan Center on April 26th, we have decided to have entry fees (whatever they might be) and registration forms both due one week prior to the event which would be April 19th. As long as they are postmarked by that date they will be allowed in. Being the first tourney of the year and me being a new director, we thought the less I have to deal with the better. The Hardy Dam tournament registration will follow the same format with money and forms being due on May 10th. It's getting close, I can't wait. By the way, I'll be heading to Florida for a week but hope to keep posting while I'm on vacation.

Ferris wins with Beaver

After two runner-up finishes in three events, Scott Ferris was ready for his coming out party. Day #2 at Cadillac/Mitchell served as the stage and Ferris wacked 13.25 pounds to earn his first club win of the season. Finishing just ounces out of first on Saturday, Scott culled over three limits of fish and also weighed in the big fish of the tournament at just over 4 pounds to nudge out Jim Rice Jr. by less than a pound. Here's how he did it:

Scott primarily fished Lake Mitchell and focused on post-spawn fish relating to the inside weededges. "I threw a spinnerbait and caught them decent in practice but had nothing great going. I'd been catching them on other lakes on inside edges and decided to try it. I caught a limit in 15 minutes on day one on the Sweet Beaver, concentrating on heavy coontail." He caught just over 13 pounds on Saturday and caught over 3 limits in the first 90 minutes of the tournament.

"Sunday didn't start out that great because I lost a few fish and had a few competitors on some of my best spots. I started doubting things and wondered if this was going to be one of those days." That changed quickly as Ferris went to one of his go-to spots, a small point that had weeds surrounding it and caught 6 in 6 casts and was culling rather quickly. After he got his limit he began to relax and added the 4 pounder shortly thereafter which secured the win for the 5 time Angler Of The Year.

Gear Notes: Ferris used an unnamed spinning combo with 10 pound suffix mono to fish the beaver on an 1/8th oz weedless jighead.

Cadillac/Mitchell 2008

High murky water welcomed the club when we visited for a two day "out of towner" late last June. With bad water conditions and post-spawn fish, this seemed like it would be another struggle as Cadillac is known for. But Day #1 was anything but as a third of the field weighed in limits and when the dust settled, Scott Rice won his first tournament of the year in a shoot-out as he brought 13.6 pounds to the scales to edge out Scott Ferris by ounces.

Senkos, grubs and topwaters all accounted for Scotts fish as he visited old haunts and a few new ones he found in practice. "I fished a weed edge off a flat in anywhere from 4-8 foot of water. I probably had a limit in the first 30 minutes of each day". His flats were located on the western side of Lake Mitchell, near but not in the numerous reed beds that litter that side of the lake. Scotts plastics were his customary colors of cinnamon brown/purple flake and he used a g-splash as his topwater weapon. Rice also weighed in the biggest fish of the tournament which went a whopping 3.76 lbs which secured the first of his 3 tournament wins in 08'.

Gear notes: spinning gear consisted of 6'6" medium action rods paired with Shimano Stradic reels, spooled with 12 pound Berkley Big Game mono. The senkos were fished weightless and both texas rigged and wacky rigged. Grubs were fished with a 1/4 oz open jighead.

FIRST FISH

Finally, I caught my first fish of the year Sunday at a small private lake with fellow club member and fishing buddy, Trent Wilson. It has been just over 4 months since I last set the hook and when I threw a suspending jerkbait over a deep point, a 3.2lb largemouth ended the drought. I caught a twin a while later in a shallow bay slow rolling a spinnerbait in about 4 foot of water. Trent was the medalist for the day when he caught a 4.3lb fish in the shallow bay on a 1/2 oz red lipless crankbait right next to where I caught mine.

The flurry ended shortly after that but a good day nontheless. I'll get out a few times this week and hope to post good results as well as reviewing last years Cadillac / Mitchell tournaments. The SCMBC board will also meet soon and I'll report the happenings.

MARCH MEETING

Had our monthly meeting Thursday night and I just wanted to touch on the highlights real quick. We had some great discussions concerning lowering the tournament entry fees, reducing the number of plaques given out at these tourneys and scaling back the invitations to fish the clubs "Classic". A lot of members think with the state of the economy the way it is that we should adjust accordingly and I couldn't agree more. Fishing can be expensive and a few dollars here and there probably don't mean a great deal but every little bit helps and I was encouraged by the amount of positive feedback that was created during our discussions.

We will have a board meeting this upcoming week and these issues will be discussed at great length and hopefully we can vote on them at Aprils' meeting. I personally will try and get the entry fees scaled back from $30 to $25, trim the plaque handouts from 1 for every 4 entrys to 1 in 8 and reduce the number of "Classic" participants from 10 to 8. These will all result in lower costs for members and hopefully get the emphasis back on just fishing and having fun.

Center Lake - 6/15/08

Michigan Center Lake was stop #2 on last years tournament trail. The mid-June event came only a week after Center hosted the SCMBC spring open where double digit limits were the norm. The club event figured to be another shoot out but as usual, things changed and only two limits exceeding ten pounds came to the scales. I managed to weigh in a 10.78 limit but Bill Mauer sacked 11.49 to win his first event since his Burt Lake victory in June of 07'.

Bill did not start in Center but ran to Moon and Dollar Lakes instead to dodge some of the fishing traffic. "I started with topwaters and thought they'd be on em' but never got bit. I caught a few on a senko and never threw anything else the rest of the day." He caught three keepers early running and gunning with the stick worm but finally moved into Center around noon and quickly finished out his limit. He wasn't targeting anything specific but covered lots of water and presented the weightless worm to as many fish as possible. "I didn't catch a ton of fish which was suprising but I got one good one." The good one was a 4.12 oz sow that bit as he set his rod under his arm to light a cigarette near Dreyeas Point. "The line took off and I picked up the rod and set the hook." It culled a 14" fish and sealed the win for the Michigan Center resident.

Gear Notes: 5" Yamamoto Senko (watermelon/gold flake) and 4/0 Eagle Claw hook.

Maurer used 30lb Power Pro braid fished on a 7' quantam rod and Shimano Stradic spinning reel

Meeting Thursday

Remember everyone, Thursday March 12th is the next club meeting at Art Moehn. We will be discussing entry fees for the catch and release tournaments and President Honsinger will address the "state of the club" topic. Looks as if all the lakes are open now so it won't be long until i'm out testing the new gear. Crappie fishing of course.

LAKE FENTON 2008

When the 2008 SCMBC schedule was announced, Lake Fenton figured to be a bed fishing event for both the largemouth and smallmouth that swam in the lake. But a severe cold front hit just before tournament day and it actually even snowed for a few minutes which is pretty rare for mid may. Most anglers struggled with the changing conditions but the 2007 reigning Angler Of The Year Jim Rice Jr saw things play right into his hands. Jim Jr targeted deeper, staging fish enroute to a 10.07 lb limit and first place finish. "I didn't bother with bedding fish, these were definitely pre-spawners."

Jimbo had a few spots from last year and a few new ones he found in practice this year that he worked over. These areas were mainly deeper weed edges and points that he fished slowly with his patented brown grub. "The fishing was pretty slow and I think I only caught 5 keepers all day." But his patience paid off in weighing in the heaviest of only 4 limits caught during the contest.

Winning gear: Brown unnamed grub with a 1/4 oz jighead paired with a spinning combo and 10 pound trilene mono

2008 YEAR IN REVIEW

Coming this week I hope to review all of last years tournaments including patterns, lures and different techniques used during the 2008 season. Part of being in a good club is being able to learn from each other and what better way to do that than hear from various club members who had success last year. So hopefully I'll be able to gather my information in the next few days and start posting some real fishing talk. Check back soon.

2008 WINNERS

FENTON JIM RICE JR. 10.07 lbs

MICHIGAN CENTER BILL MAUER 11.49

CADILLAC SCOTT RICE 13.60

CADILLAC SCOTT FERRIS 13.25

GULL LAKE JERRY SMITH 4.97

MARBLE SCOTT FERRIS 7.02

ST. CLAIR MIKE MASKE 15.02

RANDALL JIM RICE JR. 8.39

RANDALL SCOTT RICE 3.53

AUSTIN LAKE SCOTT RICE 9.37

Mike caught these "Hogs" searching new water

With the Club visiting two new lakes this year and Center being visited in April, we essentially will have three new bodies of water to investigate this year. With limited practice time, how do you break down new lakes in such a short period of time? Mike Maske (2008 St. Clair Winner) and I had such a dilema in the fall of 07' when we were invited to a new lake to fish a small tournament. We decided to put on our favorite "search baits" and cover as much water as possible. The results were Mikes' two biggins pictured above and a 5 fish limit over 17 pounds.
Maske used a 1/2 oz white Nichols spinnerbait that day for his search lure.

When I get on the lake this year to pre-fish for Center, Hardy, Goguac and even St. Clair my bait of choice to cover water quickly will be a Zoom Super Fluke. I can fish fast with this bait and bury the barb inside the plastic so I don't need to hook any fish. The Fluke will catch fish but will also draw lots of followers that I don't catch but that will give their locations away, hopefully to return tournament day and seal the deal.

I usually use white or pearl Flukes with a 4/0 hook and throw it on 10 pound flourocarbon. My combo of choice is a 6'6 medium rod and baitcasting reel. Depending on the conditions I will also use a jerkbait, spinnerbait or walking topwater bait as my "search lures" but it's hard not to hook fish with these baits so I try and stick with the fluke if I can. This is a great confidence lure for me and I know if the fish are shallow then they'll usually react to this bait.

OPEN WATER COMING

The weather is cold now but the 5 day forecast looks quite warm. Last year we didn't have full ice-out until about the first weekend in April and with all the ice we have now it should be the same this season. Bays, channels and shallow cuts will be the first to thaw and in the past I have caught bass in these areas when there was ice still on the main lake. Accidently when I was crappie fishing of course.

Hit the BPS spring sale Monday morning and dropped $230, mostly on a new pair of Solar Bat sunglasses and flourocarbon fishing line. I have a few tricks up my sleeve this coming season and will start to expand on the fishing aspect of this site during the next few days. Come on 50 degree days and rain.